Create 2024-10-16-prompting-the-wrong-question.md

posts/2024-10-16-prompting-the-wrong-question.md

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+# Prompting the Wrong Question
+
+So there I am, working on a bug exclusive to Safari (we’ve all been there). I can’t figure it out so I ask AI, “Hey, this piece of code is not working in Safari, what’s wrong?”
+
+> The issue might be related to how Safari handles keyboard events, especially for certain keys…
+
+It gives me some advice:
+
+- Ensure the listener is setup correctly
+- Check for the meta key being pressed
+
+I’ve been staring at this problem for a minute, so I’m 99% sure none of those suggestions are of any help. I double check my work, but still the bug persists.
+
+So I tell AI those suggestions don’t work. It responds by saying I may need to go to a “lower level”. It recommends:
+
+- Use a global event listener, instead of one scoped to a specific DOM element
+
+I’m skeptical — but I’ve been wrong enough to doubt my skepticism. So I try that, but no dice.
+
+I continue my conversation with AI. It recommends:
+
+- Use a different shortcut for Safari specifically
+
+I don’t want to do this. What I’m trying to achieve I’ve seen done by a million and one other websites. They don’t do something special just for Safari, I shouldn’t have to either.
+
+So now I’m getting a little testy in my prompts: “Do you have any other suggestions? You keep recommending the same ones over and over. It has to be something else.”
+
+> I apologize for the repetition. Let’s try a different approach…
+
+Ok, I like the sound of that.
+
+It begins telling me to register different events in a `useEffect` hook.
+
+“Hm…that’s a little crazy town” I think to myself. But again, I’ve been wrong before. Plus who really knows how `useEffect` works anyway, maybe it’ll work? Plus this thing has the context of the entire internet, right? (Actually not sure if that’s a good or bad thing…)
+
+No dice with `useEffect`.
+
+I continue conversing with AI but it keeps spitting back the same suggestions wrapped in different language. Over and over:
+
+> I apologize for the repetition. Let’s try a different approach…
+
+Eventually I give up.
+
+I turn to humans for help. I ask a co-worker to take a look. He tries a few things, but still nothing. But then another co-woker says one of our fixes is working for him!
+
+That starts us down the path of: what OS are you on? macOS Sonoma? Hey, me too. What version of Safari? Hmm…we’re on different minor versions of Safari. Shouldn’t be enough to warrant this big of a discrepancy? Then I turn inward, “It must be something about me, something specific to my browser…”
+
+I stare blankly at my version of Safari. I’ve been here before — works fine for everyone else, but not for me? That can mean only a handful of things, one of which is…EXTENSIONS!
+
+I only have a few installed, but I turn them all. Boom! Bug gone.
+
+So the problem all along was an extension?! [insert sad trombone sound here]
+
+AI kept taking me down this narrow hole of rewriting event listeners. Never once did it suggest, “Have you considered that perhaps the issue lies with you specifically, dear human?”
+
+Surely there’s enough internet context for it to think: have you tried disabling extensions in the browser you’re testing?
+
+I am not an expert in AI/LLMs. I would venture to guess the problem here is one of context. I set the context of the problem for the computer, and it stayed within the confines of the problem I gave it.
+
+“Why doesn’t this code work in Safari?” I asked.
+
+It never responded with, “Perhaps you are asking the wrong question.”
+
+It’s a tricky thing — even for humans like myself — to pause, take a step back, and challenge the very premise of the questions we’re asking. 
+
+I felt so silly when the whole thing was resolved. If I had a nickel for every time I’ve been asked, “Have you tried disabling extensions?” I wouldn’t be here writing this blog post about fixing bugs during my day job because I wouldn’t have one.
+
+But the lesson here (for me) remains: don’t forget to challenge the very premise of the questions you’re asking.